


Winter Hero

by chevy3000



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Bucky has a friend, everyone wants to help her get her life back, lol it doesn't work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-19 16:17:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22280341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chevy3000/pseuds/chevy3000
Summary: Bucky has a friend. A friend who has saved him multiple times. On Hiatus
Kudos: 2





	1. Angie

Steve wakes up disoriented. He sits up, fumbling for the new phone Tony gave him last week. It’s 2:54 am. Well, he’s awake now, so Steve stumbles around in the dark until he makes it to the spacious kitchen. He flips the lights on, temporarily blinding himself in his ignorance of the fact that the slider had them on the brightest setting.  
He fixes the lights and grabs his favorite tea and the mug Bucky gave him for his birthday, the one depicting a cartoonish Captain America struggling with a walker. Steve shakes off the reminiscing memories in hopes of figuring out the overly-complicated coffee machine pre-installed on every floor of Stark Tower. He manages to start it up, then absent-mindedly flips through a sketchbook while he waits for the water to heat. Ever since he got Bucky back, art has come more easily, giving Steve the habit of leaving sketchbooks all over their shared floor, just in case the need to draw strikes him without warning and he needs a sketchbook. Bucky was not entirely happy when he found not one but two sketchbooks wedged in between the couch cushions. The water heats and Steve pours the mug full, heading to the chilly living room to read. Wait, chilly? Steve looks around the room, eyes settling on the open window. Steve hops off of the couch to shut it when he remembers doing the same exact thing the night before when Bucky headed to bed. Wait, Bucky? Bucky always wakes up when Steve walks from his room to the kitchen, even after Tony fitted Bucky’s room with soundproofing walls. He heads down the hall, past his steaming mug, completely forgotten. If he walks a little faster than usual, he doesn’t notice.  
The room is empty, just as he predicted. The lone USB sits on the bed.  
\---  
Friday wakes Tony up from his rare slumber.  
“I’m sorry to rouse you sir, but Captain Rogers will arrive at your floor in five seconds.” She reports. Tony shakes himself, crawling out of bed to head to the main room.  
“This better be good, Cap,” He says at Steve runs into the room. “Ok, maybe you aren’t entirely boring.” Tony decides. Steve holds up a slick black USB.  
“I need your help, Tony.” He says, ignoring the previous comment.  
\---  
After Steve sees the HYDRA emblem, he calls for the rest of the Avengers.  
“What Steve?” Clint drones, sleepily leaning on an alert Natasha.  
“HYDRA.”  
Steve says, and the whole room tenses.  
“I thought getting Bucky out took care of that.” Sam says cautiously.  
“Where is he?” Bruce asks, catching on.  
“Cap’s bff is mia.” Tony says.  
“I found this USB in his room. It contains a series of emails and videos.” Steve says, pointing to the HYDRA emblem.  
“Bucky’s back with them?” Natasha asks, tensing, hand resting on her holster.  
“No!” Steve says. Tony fiddles with the tech, and the projection shows the emails.  
“He never replied.” Tony says, showing them the ten or so emails. “But each of the emails has a video attachment embedded in it. I’m going to assume he watched the videos.” Tony says, clicking on the first email, then clicking the linked video.  
Any of the jokes resting on the tip of Tony’s tongue dissolve as they see a girl in her early teens strapped to a table with nasty bruises covering her arms and face. Her right arm is half flesh, half metal, similar to the metal Bucky’s arm is made out of. Steve grimaces. It’s the same state he found Bucky after Bucky managed to escape the facility by himself. A man enters the scene, walking towards the girl and looking at her unconscious form before facing the camera.  
“She didn’t make it out.” He says, a hint of a grin on his evil face, before turning back to the girl. “Not like you thought.” A group of men enter the room then, equipped with a car battery and some wires. They attach the alligator clips to large bolts on the chair, and start the battery, shocking the girl into awareness.  
“Where is the Winter Soldier?” The man demands. Steve tenses. He doesn’t know if this girl is a friend or foe, but it seems she knows Bucky. She glares at the man, and Steve decides he likes her. For now. “Where is he? I know you aided in his escape, I know you were supposed to be right behind him, but you hesitated, you are loyal to us. So where is he?!” The man shouts, but the girl doesn’t flinch. She doesn’t say anything. “I asked you a question, and I am your handler. What are you supposed to do?” The man growls.  
The video ends and Tony looks at the rest of the group before opening the next one without a question. As it loads, Steve looks around. Clint looks more awake. That girl can’t be much older than his own children. Natasha looks almost sick. She went through a similar situation. Bruce seems to be assessing the injuries, thinking about how she can stay alive. Sam looks grim. Tony looks upset but watches as the next video starts.  
The girl has more bruises this time.  
“Asset, I know you are out there.” Steve almost shivers at the man’s cold tone and steely eyes. He’s unhappy but clearly enjoying toying with Bucky. “I know you saw the previous video.” He states simply, turning away from the camera to nod at his two assistants. They grab the girl and drag her towards the camera. Her hands are bound behind her back, and her ankles are bound together.  
“Those are some special cuffs.” Tony says quietly.  
“The same used on Bucky.” Steve adds, just as quiet.  
“You have one chance.” The man says, and the team turns their attention back to the video. “Tell me where the Winter Soldier is.” He says and the girl says nothing. “One more time,” He says. The girl still says nothing. “That’s it.” The man says quickly. He gestures for the assistants to come closer, and one cuffs the girl hard, and she falls forward, still staying quiet. The video ends as the man delivers a swift kick to her ribs, a small grunt the only noise she makes.  
The next three videos are similar. They try and torture Bucky’s location out of her, which Steve is pretty sure she doesn’t know and if she does then she’s smarter than he thinks, and she doesn’t say anything, even after an extremely painful-looking session in the third video. Bruce left in the middle of that one; he had a greenish tint to his face and Tony asked Friday to monitor him.  
Tony hovers over the sixth video. He hesitates, looking around at the stricken faces of the team.  
“Do I...?” He asks quietly.  
Steve nods, but he also hesitates. He has no clue what he’s getting himself and his team into.  
The next video starts differently. The man is alone in the frame as he starts to talk.  
“Unfortunately, the injuries Assist attained have kept her unconscious, so I am only talking to you today, Asset.” He says, and Natasha twitches. Steve knows she doesn’t like this. “I know you are hiding out somewhere. I know you are accessing this email and watching these videos.  
I know you care for your Assist, no matter how many times you were punished for showing attachments.” The man finishes, but an alarm begins to blare in the background. The man stands abruptly, jostling the table, and knocking the camera onto its side. The video  
continues to play for a bit, until Tony messes with the slider.  
“This video goes on for another couple hours with no activity.” He says quietly, playing the next video. This is the first time they see the man angry.  
“It thought it could escape. It knows where you are, Winter Soldier. We all know what happens to those who try to escape, don’t we?!” The man shouts. “This is your third attempt at escape. I assumed you would know by now: hell is inescapable.” He says to the girl. Steve sees Clint shudder. The video cuts out.  
The next video is just the man demanding information the girl won’t give up.  
The ninth video is different. It’s a tactical video, shaky footage captured from a camera hastily strapped to a gun, standing beside the girl. She has a tactical vest on, but Tony frowns. There aren’t any straps in the front. A few moments pass, and she steps forward as the door of a van opens. That’s when Tony sees the many straps on the back. She couldn’t have put that on by herself. The gun nudges the girl in the shoulder roughly.  
“No mistakes in the field.” The voice laughs a bit. “Your Winter Hero isn’t here to save you now.” He laughs again, and Steve’s heart sinks. They board the waiting van, and the clip finishes, switching to another.  
It’s a fast fight, but the man never lets the girl take the lead when she is clearly the better fighter. She never gets hit once, but the man is hit twice in the arm. At the end of the robbery, before they get in the van, the camera lands on the girl. The camera bobs as he nods at his arm. “These are on you.” He grunts, getting in the van and leaving her no choice but to follow, but she runs. She barely makes it to the end of the block before the shots ring out and the clip cuts to a static end. The man’s face appears once again.  
“Your Assist is rogue. Useless to this organization. It hid its attachment to you so well we almost missed it. Unfortunate. It had real potential. Potential to be better than you.”  
“This was sent only an hour ago,” Tony says, shutting down the hologram, and Steve has a clear view of Bucky’s deer-in-a-headlight eyes. And the pain inside them.  
\---  
Tony pushes him into a chair before he has an all-out panic attack.  
“What made you think it was a good idea to go out alone in a state like this?” Natasha says firmly.  
“We just got you back a couple of months ago. What was your plan if you got stuck back there?” Sam asks.  
“You need backup going against something like this,” Clint puts his two cents in.  
“I didn’t think you were that dense.” Tony mutters.  
“Why, Bucky? Why wouldn’t you tell us?” Steve asks quietly, the others straining to hear his question.  
“Assist was going to be put down for my actions. Mission was time-sensitive.” He says.  
“Well did you succeed?” Tony butts in.  
“Mission incomplete. HYDRA expected a break-in.” Bucky sighs deeply. They’re going to kill her.” He whispers.  
“We won’t let it happen, Buck,” Steve says, placing a firm hand on his friend’s shoulder. Bucky looks up, doubt hiding on his impassive face.  
“Mission has increased time-sensitivity.” He reminds them. “They will expect us.”  
“Me and Natasha will come with you. Infiltrate quietly, and have the rest of the team ready for backup.” Steve decides.  
“Cap-” Tony protests, but Steve silences him with a look.  
“We need to do this as fast as possible. We’re heading out in three minutes.” Steve declares.  
\---  
Bucky is silent the entire way there, having already told Steve where he located Assist. He leads Steve and Natasha into the facility, careful of the things he encountered earlier. He did not trip the sensor that originally got him caught. Steve and Nat follow him closely.  
“Up,” Bucky whispers, gently pulling the grate from the obnoxiously oversized vent. Nat takes the lead, Steve behind her, and Bucky last. Nat leads in the direction Bucky tells her to.  
“Buck, why hasn’t nobody noticed us yet?” Steve whispers.  
“They want to see it.” Bucky says quietly.  
“See what?” Steve asks before Natasha stops abruptly in front of him. They reached a grate that gives them a clear view of the main event. The girl is on her knees, hands cuffed behind her back. Two men, one from the video, stand in front of her. One is holding a long knife. The whole facility is gathered around to watch.  
“One last chance,” The man from the videos says. “Where is the Winter Soldier?” Bucky tenses. The girl’s eyes narrow.  
“Far away from here.” She says, a second later her neck snapping backwards to accompany the punch from the man with the knife. Bucky tenses again.  
“We should move now,” Steve whispers.  
“No, we need a better distraction,” Natasha argues.  
“I have one. Wait for my signal,” Bucky says, disappearing back into the vents.  
“We gave you a chance,” The man sighs. He unfolds a paper that was in his shirt pocket and begins reading in French.”  
“Chitauri.”  
The girl takes a sharp breath.  
“Forgotten.”  
She clenches her eyes shut as if trying to block out the sound.  
“Debt.”  
Her face twitches.  
“Twist.”  
She bares her teeth, her face relaxing at the same time.  
“35.”  
Her eyes snap open, deadly and cold.  
“Don’t you dare talk about-”  
“Docile.”  
She huffs out a small laugh.  
“9.”  
“All I ever wanted-”  
“Rescued.”  
“Was to see my family again,”  
“4.”  
“All you’re doing-”  
“Lost.” The man finishes.  
“Is granting my wish-” Her body jerks and she looks up. “Ready to comply.”  
“You know what you must do for your treasonous acts.” The man with the knife says, unlocking the handcuffs. She slowly holds out a hand, and he gives her the knife. It’s Steve’s turn to tense up as she angles the blade towards herself. The handler begins to loosen the straps on her tactical vest.  
“Goodbye, Assist.” The man from the videos says, but Bucky launches himself out of another vent and onto the man.  
“Override code: yellow!” He shouts.  
“Override accepted.” She says, stabbing the knife into the guy behind her. “Cutting it close today, Bucko,” She says grinning. Her vest hangs loose, but it doesn’t stop her from jumping into battle. Steve and Nat jump from the vents and join the two in the fight. It’s a long fight, but an easy one. Steve can’t help but check to make sure Bucky and the small girl are doing fine, but every time he checks, they’re working at lightning speed in perfect sync. Nat calls him back into the fight.  
The agents keep coming. Bucky and the girl lead Steve and Nat away down a long corridor, barring the doors shut behind them.  
“We need to get out of here,” Bucky says, and the girl blinks in understanding.  
“Vents, too small. Front door is the best option. Security is easily bypassed.” She says, and Bucky takes this into consideration.  
“Whatever the plan is, we need to keep moving,” Natasha reminds them, and Steve leads the way down the corridor. They take about ten steps before a gunshot rings out in the hall, echoing off the walls. Bucky whips around just in time to see the girl drop, the bullet hitting near her heart, her vest rendered useless when loosened.  
“No!” Bucky shouts, seeing the handler with the smoking gun. Natasha returns fire, giving Bucky time to grab her and get out of there, Steve and Natasha right behind him.  
\---  
They make it back to Avengers Tower a few minutes before sunrise.  
Bruce waits with a team of doctors, Nat having alerted him to the situation on the way back. Bucky lays her on the table, and the doctors get to work.  
“Can we get this vest off?” One of them asks. He tries to cut the material, but it is in vain. Bucky tries to get at the straps on the back, but they are in the middle of the back, where she cannot reach them. Bucky doesn’t waste time flipping her over, simply grabbing the seams and putting his full strength into ripping it apart. Successful, Bruce kicks him out. Friday will instruct him to come back when necessary. An order to follow: sit and wait.  
\---  
Steve finds him shortly.  
“Bucky,” He says. Bucky doesn’t move. Steve waves a hand in front of his face. Bucky doesn’t register it. Steve sits down next to him, sighing.  
“What?” Bucky asks after a minute.  
“Tell me the story,” Steve asks slowly.  
“What is there to tell? HYDRA brainwashed a kid and made her work with me,” Bucky says quietly. “Made her believe she wasn’t worth anything,” He says, quieter. “Made her kill,” He whispers.  
“But you saved her from that. You want to help her.” Steve points out. “Why?”  
“They got her during the Chitauri invasion.” He starts slowly. “Found her half-trapped under a fallen building. The fact that she was still awake and functioning, that her stamina had held out that long, they wanted her. They told her they were taking her to a safe house,” He says dimly.  
“They being HYDRA?” Steve asks.  
“Yes.” He pauses. “I was with them.” He sighs. “She realized it wasn’t a safe house almost immediately. The first week was just brainwashing. They had me help them, knowing I would have to train her.” He lets out a long breath. “She was strong-willed. She still remembered everything after the first wipe.” Steve looks away. “Even after the twelfth wipe, she still remembered her family. It took thirty-six sessions to make her forget her parents. After forty, she still remembered the names.” Bucky chokes out the last sentence. Steve turns to him.  
“Whose names?” He asks, fear in his eyes. Bucky breaks.  
“Andrew, Kiara, Dilan, and Miles,” A tear rolls down his face. “Her siblings. She didn’t even know who they were, but she knew they were important. She didn’t even remember her own name.” Bucky grits his teeth and continues on. “They couldn’t brainwash her anymore that week for risk of brain damage. I watched her. I only earned her trust when I told her what her name was.” Steve looks at him expectantly. “I told her that they were calling her Assist, but her real name is Angie.” Steve looks at Bucky with sorrow in his eyes.  
“Buck, you helped her. You changed her life, none of what they did is your fault,” Steve says quietly. Bucky sighs.  
“The blast that knocked the building she and her family were in,” He pauses. “I gave the order to send it.”

Lmk what y'all think


	2. New Beginnings

I don't own, enjoy.

Consciousness slowly floated in. Then adrenaline. She shot up, ready to fight, only to notice this wasn’t the typical HYDRA medbay. After her confusion settled, she checked herself for injuries and/or tracking devices. Her arm was working perfectly, but she couldn’t help but notice the bandages on her chest. Looking at the bandages, it looked like a gunshot wound had been mere millimeters off from her heart. It was odd, if this was HYDRA, for them to save her. After the loss of Winter Soldier, however, she was the best. Finding no restraints, she moved to hop out of bed, but stopped, hearing a voice.  
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” She whips around, recognizing that voice. “Easy,” Bucky says. “You went into cardiac arrest a few times before they got you back. They had to do open-heart surgery to remove the bullet safely. You can’t move that fast without irritating your stitches.” Bucky helps Angie sit up slowly.  
“Why did you come back for me?” Angie asks. “You know they wanted you to come back. They were ready for you. Ready to kill you.”  
“I know,” Bucky says, smiling a rare smile. “That’s why I came back twice. Once because they wanted me to, and another time just to rub it in their sorry little faces that they’ll never have a chance at anything with both of us gone.”  
“2 for 1 deal. Solid.” Angie smirks, before immediately wheezing. Bucky’s smile melts.  
“Are you ok?” Bucky asks.  
“I’m fine,” Angie coughs. Bucky brushes off the lie, reminding himself to ask Bruce about it later.

Tony stopped Steve in the hallway before he went off to do whatever it was that Steve did all day in Avengers Tower.  
“Steve,” He sighs. Steve turns around, a dour expression matching Tony’s appearing on his face. “She’s a kid.” Steve nods, understanding.  
“She doesn’t have any family left.” Steve says. “Bucky looked into it a while back.”  
“Does he know anything about her?” Tony asks, sighing again.  
“She’s sixteen, she had four siblings, and she’s really smart. That’s about it,” Steve looks up for a moment. “Her life was turned upside down after the Chitauri invasion. She was eight, Tony. Eight years old when they got her.”  
“And she’s been stuck with HYDRA for eight years. Half of her life is filled with their corruption.”  
Steve and Tony look at each other.  
“We need to get her back to a normal life. Give her something that will make a bigger part of her life than HYDRA did.” Steve says. “I’ll talk to Bucky later,” He mentions, and the two part ways.

“It looks like you have atelectasis.” Bruce says, gesturing to the x-ray. So far, he’s been the only one to actually meet this kid. Bucky insisted that the others will meet her later, but hasn’t defined when “later” actually is.  
“I ate what?” Angie asks.  
“It means that a small part of your lung has collapsed. I’ll find some breathing exercises for you to do, and if those don’t work, I’ll have to perform a surgery.” Bruce leaves the room to print some instructions for her. Angie sighs.  
“How long am I staying here?” She asked quietly. Bucky should’ve known this conversation would come sooner rather than later. Nothing in Angie’s eight years of HYDRA had ever been permanent, except for pain and humiliation.  
“We,” Bucky starts by putting emphasis on the “we”, “are staying here as long as we are welcome. And that’s going to be a very long time, because these are people I trust, and, well most of them trust me.”  
“You of all people should know I don’t trust anyone,” Angie says quietly.  
“Do you trust me?” Bucky asks.  
“Maybe,” She says, raising her eyebrows. Steve walks into the room, and Angie produces a knife out of nowhere.  
“I’ll take that as a no.” Bucky says, giving her a glance that tells her to put her knife back wherever she found it. Angie puts it back reluctantly, trying to look as small as possible. “Steve,” Bucky says, a smile beginning to form. “Steve, this is Angie,”  
“Nice to meet you,” Steve says, approaching tentatively after watching her whip a knife out of thin air.  
“Hi,” Angie says shyly. Even after eight years of being one of the best assassins on the planet, she had gained very little confidence. Sneaking another look at the gigantic man, she suddenly recognized him, breathing in quietly before starting to wheeze again. Bucky noticed her reaction and Steve moved to help Angie sit up, but a warning look from Bucky held him back.  
“Ange, you good?” Bucky asks worriedly, locking his equally worried eyes with Steve’s. Angie slowly stopped wheezing. She slowly clenched her hand into a fist, breathing out carefully. Another image flashed through her mind so quickly Bucky could almost sense the flashback coming. He and Steve locked eyes again, and Steve left the room quietly, offering a grimace of a smile before departing. As soon as the door slid closed, Bucky turned his full attention to Angie. “Ange, talk to me. What’s happening?” Bucky had spent so many years in HYDRA he knew nothing could shake him. Except for the words that came next.  
“I’m supposed to kill him.” Angie says quietly, the full mission coming back to her now.  
“Angie, if you kill Steve I can guarantee-”  
“I don’t want to kill him!” She says, wheezing. “The mission,” she coughs out.  
“What mission? We were never on a mission to kill Captain America together,” Bucky asks, thinking out loud. Angie slowly stops wheezing.  
“After you escaped,” She says. “They knew you would go to him. They knew that you would protect him at all costs. They wanted to catch you by killing him, so they sent me and Merit.” Bucky’s face turned sour at the mention of the power-hungry killer he and Angie were often forced to work with. Whenever he was included in a mission, it went bad.  
“What happened?” Bucky asks, knowing the plan obviously didn’t go through.  
“I saw you. I couldn’t do it,” Angie looks down.  
“The consequence?” He asks quietly. Angie stares straight ahead trying to forget. After a moment she sighs.  
“They knew that I actually cared more about you than my rep. The videos started less than a week later.” Bucky looks downcast. He knew that she had some idea of what would happen when she hesitated to escape with him, but he didn’t think that they would go that far with their star player with him gone.  
“I’m sorry,” He says after a moment.  
“It’s ok,” She says, looking up. “I should’ve left with you.” If Bucky notices how she stiffens up when he gives her a hug, he doesn’t let it show.

“How is she doing?” Tony asks Bruce. He, Sam, and Bruce were sitting in the common area where Avengers could always be found.  
“She’s doing the breathing exercises, but I haven’t seen any improvement.” Bruce says.  
“Well, it’s only been a day,” Sam interjects.  
“I’m worried,” Bruce says, “That she wasn’t injected with the serum.” Tony raises his eyebrows. “All that she’s been through, I’m worried it will take a very large toll on her if she wasn’t injected with the serum.” Bruce explains. “I can’t give her certain medications if she is.  
“We have to ask Bucky,” Sam decides.  
“Ask me what?” Bucky asks, nonchalantly strolling into the room with Steve.  
“If Angie was injected with the modified super soldier serum.” Bruce says plainly. Bucky blanks.  
“If they did, I wouldn’t know it.” He says after a moment, standing a bit straighter. “Experimentation isn’t shared with handlers, for field research purposes. You’ll have to ask her.” Bucky’s face shows no emotion.  
“Experimentation?” Tony questions. All of the Avengers show shocked expressions. Natahsa walks in at this moment.  
“What about it?” She asks.  
“Angie?” Steve says.  
“They had been developing a better serum around the time…” He trails off, unable to finish his sentence. “I wouldn’t put it past them to test it on the new recruit.” He blinks a few times, trying to stay in control of his mind and its treacherous flashbacks. But of course it only makes the one that came hit him with more force.

Angie. That’s what they called her. Not anymore. Bucky peeked in at the newest member of the tribe. She looked scared. That’ll wear off after she forgets everything. Bucky hoped she would be good in the field. She was small and strong, some of the best aspects to have when on a mission. He briefly wondered if they would inject her with the new serum he had heard rumors about, before remembering not to question the motives of his handlers. He noticed a file outside the door, describing the memory wipes she had undergone and the results. She didn’t forget much, at least that’s what the results entailed. It looked like they were going to try something new next time. Something about this felt wrong and he knew it. An image of a young girl standing in front of him while he braided her hair for her flashed before his eyes. Bucky kept walking before someone could ask him why he was standing there.  
\---  
They called him into the dark, dimly lit office.  
“Asset. We have found a suitable Assist for aiding in missions.” There is no emotion in this handler’s voice. Bucky only nods his confirmation. “In a few day’s time it will be ready.” Bucky nods again before being dismissed.

“Bucky?” Steve’s voice snaps him out of it. Bukcy’s eyes meet the concerned faces of many Avengers. “Are you ok?” Bucky nods.  
“You remember?” Natasha asks, understanding the situation better than anyone in the room.  
“They did something to her to make her forget. Something they never did to anyone else.” Bucky says.  
“Something to waive her mental strength?” Natasha suggests.  
“I need to find her file.” Bucky says, nodding.  
“We can’t go back there again,” Steve says.  
“We don’t need to.” Bucky says.

Bucky pulled the box out of his empty closet.  
“You kept all of this?” Tony asks.  
“Just in case,” Bucky shrugs. He pulls out his old tactical vest. Just looking at it made bad memories want to surface. Bucky pushed them back into the depths of his mind, searching for the secret pocket he installed without his handler’s knowledge. “When I got out, I got this.” He produces a USB from a small rip inside his vest. “I should have access to the whole system.”  
“And what it doesn’t, I can hack,” Tony says, taking the usb and heading to his lab. “I’ll be back in a few hours with what I find.” Bucky nods. The rest of the Avengers dissipate, leaving Steve and Bucky on their floor.  
“I should probably go back to check on Angie.” Bucky says, and heads to leave but Steve stops him.  
“Bucky, I already talked to Tony, and we both want her to be able to have a normal life when she’s ready. Tony already has a couple schools picked out, just let her know she has options, will you?” Steve says. Bucky nods.  
“Thank you.” Bucky says.

Once Angie had gotten Bucky to believe she was asleep and he left, she searched the room. HYDRA would be on her tail soon before the doctors here would let her out of her bed, so she took action when everyone finally left her alone. She swept the room for bugs, and had finally completed her search when a voice from the ceiling interrupted her thoughts.  
“May I be of any assistance, Miss Angie?” Friday inquired. She looked around, shocked, but hiding it well.  
“Who are you?” She asks, finding no one in the room.  
“I am Friday, Mr. Stark’s artificial intelligence. I am smarter than any other computer, constantly adapting and updating my intel.”  
“You’re a computer?” Angie asks. Something sparked in the back of her mind.  
“Once again, are you in need of assistance?” Friday asks. “My records indicate that you should not be up and about for another two days.”  
“I’m just looking around a little bit,” Angie says, not wanting to divulge any info to a hackable computer.  
“I understand. However, I am obliged to report this info to your friend, Sergeant Bucky Barnes.” Friday says apologetically.  
“Please don’t.” Angie says, looking at the ceiling with uncertainty.  
“I will excuse this only once, but I suggest you get back into bed before the elevator arrives.” Angie nods, resuming her fake sleep just as the elevator opens. Bucky comes over to the bed and looks at her for a minute.  
“I know you’re awake.” He says, and Angie opens her eyes, not trying to hide the fact. “And I have a question to ask you,” Angie sits up, interested. “Only if you can,” Bucky says, and Angie understands. “Did they ever inject you with a serum?” He asks, just as Steve walks into the room. Angie sighs, trying to remember. “I know they erased your memory periodically, but if you can remember, it would help you to get better faster.” Bucky explains, and suddenly, Angie remembers something.

“I’m not doing anything for you,” She says fiercely. The man starts the machine again. “I won’t forget who I am.” She growls as the machine once again tries to wipe her brain. The procedure is over again and they once again ask her for her name. “It’s Angie. You can give up already.” She gets little satisfaction from their annoyed faces. “I won’t forget my family, my life, and I definitely won’t forget my name!” She shouts as the machine starts again.  
\---  
It went on so long. She eventually forgot details, but she still remembered names and faces. She tried to pretend she had forgotten everything, but that didn’t work. Angie’s face went blank as she prepared for another session, but this time, the man only brought with him a syringe.  
“What are you doing with that?” She slurred angrily. She had almost forgotten how to speak, but she would never forget her family or her own name.  
\---  
When she woke up, she couldn’t remember anything. Just emptiness. A different guy walked in this time.  
“Hey,” He said. “What is your name?” She fumbled around, looking for what to say. The man left with a strange look on his face, but he paused before he got to the door and turned around to look at her. “Angie.” He said, so quietly she wondered if he had even spoken at all. Then he left without another word. Names flooded back into her mind. Names and nothing else. Andrew, Kiara, Angie, Dilan, and Miles. All she knew was that one was hers and the man knew it. She swore to never say them aloud ever again.

Angie only sighed as she came back to reality. She was met with Bucky’s and Steve’s concerned faces, yet she couldn’t find it in her to worry about why they looked like that.  
“Ange?” Bucky asks quietly. Angie keeps staring straight ahead.  
“What did they do?” Steve whispers, obviously not for her to hear, but she heard it anyway.  
“Angie,” Bucky says, his voice a decibel more frantic. “What did they do to make you forget?” Bucky inquires, reaching a hand out slowly to touch her. He had only encountered her like this once before.  
“Angie.” She whispers under her breath. Bucky strains to hear it.  
“That’s your name,” He says, touching his hand to her arm. She doesn’t even register that his hand is there. Bucky gives her arm a tiny pinch, short, but painful enough that she should snap out of it. She doesn’t even blink.  
“Friday, please send Bruce up.” Steve says, worried. Something isn’t right. Suddenly, Angie snaps out of it.  
“I can’t remember,” She says, mumbling under her breath. Bucky listens carefully, recognizing the names of her siblings. She’s trying to remember everything she can.  
“Angie, it’s ok,” He says, “You’re ok, no one is tyring to make you forget anymore.”  
“Bucky, I can’t remember.” She says again.  
“It’s ok-”  
“I can’t remember how I got here.”

Review?


	3. Trust

Chapter 3  
Bruce shows Bucky, Steve, and Tony the sample of Angie’s blood that he analyzed.  
“As you can see, there is a foreign substance circulating her bloodstream.” Bruce says, pointing to the highlighted areas. “I was unable to identify it, but it seems to be the updated serum.”  
“This is what made her forget everything?” Steve asks, unable to see a connection.  
“It was made to target the amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and cerebellum.” Bruce says.  
“All the parts of the brain that work with memories.” Tony finishes for him. Bruce nods.  
“Based on how it affected her brain, it heavily targeted fears, emotions, and all of her memories. And they continually wiped her memory, leaving long term effects. That would explain her difficulty in remembering certain facts.” Bruce looks around. “It clearly wasn’t tested well, so there’s no saying if it actually did what it was supposed to or went further than they wanted.” Bucky looks up. Steve recognizes a faraway look in his eyes.  
“After they did it,” Bucky thinks, trying to remember clearly. “There was a guy. I think they had to reteach her how to speak and read.” His statement is met with silence.  
“It looks like it went further than expected,” Steve says after a moment. Bucky suddenly takes a sharp breath, remembering something. “Are you ok?” Steve asks. Bucky looks pained.  
“I think,” He falters. “I think they made her forget what pain feels like.” He says, looking downcast.  
“Could it have made her forget other emotions as well?” Tony asks.  
“Possibly,” Bruce says.  
“Is there an antidote?” Steve asks.  
“I’m already working on one. It may leave her with short-term memory though.” Bruce warns.  
“I think it’s worth the risk.” Bucky says. “She’ll be able to remember what life was like without HYDRA in her life.”  
“You need to consult Angie about this as well,” Bruce says. “It needs to be her decision.” Bucky nods.  
“They used her.” Bucky mutters under his breath, stomping out of the room.

Angie was finally let out of the medbay and had a room in Bucky and Steve’s apartment. She was still struggling to breathe, and often found herself taking shallow breaths. Due to the atelectasis, Bucky wouldn’t let her do anything until Bruce cleared her, but she still found ways to wander around the commodious tower. During the day, Bucky would make her sit and not move around much, but at night, Angie would go exploring to stretch her tired and unused legs, unknown to Bucky or Steve. However, she often stumbled across the other Avengers and had to come up with quick lies. The second night she began to mentally map the gigantic tower, she came across Tony in his lab. Friday had alerted him to her presence, and Tony turns around, surprised.  
“What are you doing down here?” He asks, his tone bordering on suspicious.  
“I’m just looking for the bathroom,” Angie says, a little too quickly.  
“There’s multiple on Steve’s floor,” Tony says, turning back to his work.  
“I’m just trying to stretch my legs a little,” Angie says truthfully. Tony nods.  
“I don’t like being monitored every second of the day either,” He says, knowing the antics of a bored child.  
“Then why did you make the ceiling computer?” Angie asks, sitting down at the table, across from him as to see his project.  
“That ceiling computer has a name. It’s Friday, and she’s more helpful than intrusive,” Tony points out. Angie shrugs.  
“What are you making?” She asks.  
“I’m trying to upgrade my suit,” Tony says, turning the schematic hologram on. Angie nods, impressed, and watches him work in silence for a bit.  
“I just wanted to, uh, say thanks for letting me stay here,” Angie says quietly.  
“Not a problem kid, there’s plenty of space,” Tony says, without looking up. When he gets no response, he looks up. She was long gone by then. Tony laughs quietly, turning back to his work.

The next person she met was Sam. She was dead tired after a long day of doing nothing. Her previous life included strenuous and nerve-wracking activity every day, and the slow life was getting to her. Also, Bucky had made her do so many breathing exercises that day that she almost forgot how to breathe normally and spent most of the day slightly out of breath. Steve and Bukcy’s kitchen was full of strange foods from the ancient times, as Angie called them, so she headed to what was deemed a “common floor” in search of something good to eat. Small snippets of memories came back to her from time to time, and she had a revelation during one of the breathing exercises today: she loved sandwiches. Not the sandwiches that Steve and Bucky ate, those pb&j sandwiches had so little flavor to them. So here she was, pairing delicately sliced turkey with crisp apple slices and tangy honey mustard at 3 am in the common floor kitchen. Angie was just trying to decide whether to use cheddar cheese or some fancy cheese she couldn’t pronounce the name of when someone else wandered into the kitchen. Both immediately jumped into a defensive stance, Angie praying her sandwich wouldn’t be ruined in this sticky situation.  
“Wait a second, you’re Bucky’s kid, right?” Sam asks, lowering his hands.  
“I’m not his kid,” Angie says, also letting her guard down, slowly.  
“Yeah whatever. Sorry to bother you, just looking for something to eat-” He trailed off, noticing Angie’s sandwich. “That,” He started. “Apple with turkey?” He fake gags.  
“Don’t insult my sandwich,” Angie glares at him, deciding on the cheddar. She finishes it up and cuts the sandwich into four pieces. She hands him a fourth. Sam looks at it, uncertain. “I dare you to.” She says, and he takes the piece. He tentatively takes a bite, raising his eyebrows when he finds the sandwich suspiciously good.  
“That’s actually pretty good,” Sam says as Angie begins to eat her sandwich.  
“I remembered it,” She says quietly. Sam thinks for a minute, remembering what Steve said about the serum that Angie had vs the serum that Bucky had.  
“Do you remember things often?” Sam asks, looking into the fridge as he slips into counselor mode.  
“Rarely.” Angie says quietly, taking another bite of her sandwich. “And when I do, they’re random little things.”  
“Like what?” Sam asks, genuinely interested.  
“When I was little I wanted to be in the military.” She says, her tone almost sarcastic, and Sam can tell she’s changed her mind.  
“I was in the military.” Sam says. “It’s a difficult line of work. Tough decisions, life or death situations, you know how it is,” Sam says nonchalantly.  
“In HYDRA, they make all the decisions,” She says, thinking.  
“Well, following orders was always a tough decision for me,” He almost laughs at the end of his sentence. Angie huffs out a tiny laugh.  
“Tell me about it,” Angie says, knowing she’s made another friend.

It’s Pepper she finds next. This time, it wasn’t even in the middle of the night. Bucky and Steve went out to do some recon on something they forgot to mention to her, even though she clearly knew it was HYDRA and they just didn’t want to tell her. She was left alone for a major part of the day with a clear warning from Bucky: stay out of trouble. Of course, wandering around wasn’t going to cause any trouble, or so she thought. She could hear Bucky’s and Steve’s voices as they returned from their recon and Angie slipped into a room to avoid them. Listening to the door as they go past, Angie is startled by the sudden noise.  
“Tony, what do you need now?” The woman asks, looking up to see Angie’s confused face. “Oh, she says quickly. “I’m Pepper,” She says, slightly uncertain.  
“Oh,” Angie says, having heard someone mention someone with that name. “I’m Angie,” she says after a pause.  
“Tony told me about you,” Pepper says cautiously. Angie doesn’t know how to respond. “Are you hiding from Steve and Bucky?” Pepper asks with a smile beginning to form. Angie nods, debating whether or not she can trust this lady. She seems nice enough for now.  
“Please don’t tell them you saw me,” She says.  
“I won’t. I don’t like people telling me to stay put either.” Pepper smiles. “But you might want to get back to their floor before they do,” Pepper suggests. Angie considers this.  
“They’re probably almost back,” Angie says, thinking hard. “You don’t mind if I use this vent?” Angie asks, gesturing to the vent on the ceiling.  
“Not at all. It won’t even be the weirdest thing I see in a day,” Pepper says, laughing to herself as the small girl manages to get the grate off and hop up into the vent before poking her head back out.  
“Thanks so much,” She says, flashing a rare smile. She decided she likes Pepper and reminded herself to find her later.

She managed to hop onto the couch and pull a blanket over herself just before the door opened. She kept cutting it closer and closer every time she snuck around, and her secret probably wouldn’t last very long with Bucky’s meticulous habits. She shrugged this thought off of her shoulders as she nodded in response to Bucky’s greeting. However, she was a bit more surprised when another person came in behind Steve.  
“Clint, this is Angie,” Steve says, and the man steps into the room. Angie gives a small wave from her perch on the couch. Steve turns to talk to Clint for a minute, and Bucky sits down next to Angie.  
“So, you know we went to do recon,” Bucky starts.  
“On HYDRA,” Angie interjects.  
“Somehow you figured that out,” Bucky sighs, and Angie gives him a look. He laughs quietly. “Clint is going to ask you some questions. He works for SHIELD and with your help, they’ll be able to help us take HYDRA down. That will make it happen quicker than if we work alone.” Bucky explains and Angie nods, slowly coming to a realization.  
“You waited to get me out before doing this,” She says, and Bucky looks away.  
“I couldn’t fight you. You know they would’ve turned you against me somehow.” Bucky sighs, glad that this never came true.  
“That would’ve never happened,” Angie says confidently. “You should’ve destroyed them as soon as you got the chance.”  
“You can never be sure-” Bukcy starts.  
“They tried,” She says, and Bucky turns to look at her. She says her next sentence so quietly Bucky strains to hear it. “They told me your activation code. I tried so hard to forget it but they just kept telling me over and over again.” When he pieces together what she said, he sits up immediately. His activation code could turn him back to HYDRA. He knew Angie’s code because he was her handler. But she should only know her own.  
“You can never say those words aloud,” Bucky says, making sure Angie is looking him in the eyes. Flashbacks of forgetting everything about himself flooded back to him.  
“I never have, never will,” Angie says. “I know how much they hurt.” Bucky remembers that her code is mostly centered around losing her family and HYDRA trying to become her new one. “I just wanted to let you know that if they get me back, they’ll have everything they need to get you back,” Bucky nods in understanding.  
“Thanks for letting me know,” He says, getting up to leave. Angie stops him.  
“Let me know when you have a plan,” She says, asking to be included, and that, Bucky can understand. He nods, giving her a happy grimace, heading to the kitchen with Steve to discuss this while Clint will ask her questions.  
“Hi,” Clint says, sitting down with a clipboard.  
“Hi,” Angie says, glad to have told Bucky what she has been meaning to tell him since she got back.  
“I need to ask you some questions so that HYDRA will be exposed to the government,” Clint explains and Angie nods. “You are not obligated to answer these questions, ok?” Clint asks, concerned. She seems too young to have been through an experience like this. She nods again, and he gets started. “Ok, at any point did you give consent for HYDRA to intervene with your life?”  
“No,” Angie says, upset at how small her “no” sounds. Clint sighs to himself.  
“Was there any legality surrounding events that took place while you were there?”  
“No.”  
“Could you please describe events that revealed HYDRA’s terrorist ideology?”  
“Suicide missions with intent to kill.” Angie says, her face void of emotion. Clint looks very concerned as he scribbles this down on his clipboard.  
“Last question,” Clint says, not wanting to ask it. “Could you give me an example?” He finishes the question quietly. Angie looks straight ahead, but she doesn’t see anything. “Bucky, Steve?” He calls hesitantly when she doesn’t respond after a minute. They come in quickly and Bucky immediately knows what is going on.  
“What did you ask her about?” He asks.  
“I asked her to give an example of HYDRA’s terrorism,” Clint says, standing up.  
“Angie,” Bucky says, trying to snap her out of it. He gestures for Clint and Steve to back up while he crouches down a bit so he is eye-level with Angie. “Angie, talk to me,” He says, his tone worried. Angie struggles to breathe. Her eye twitches and she snaps out of it. “What put you back there?” Bucky asks gravely. Clint and Steve take this as an opportunity to move into the kitchen. Angie’s face goes blank again, but Bucky puts his hand on her shoulder, grounding her. Angie tenses up, her facial expression unclear. “Angie, you gotta tell me so I can help you.” He says quietly, sitting down next to her.  
“Do you remember the first mission they sent me on?” She asks quietly. Bucky tries to think. “You weren’t my handler yet,” Angie adds. Bucky remembers hearing rumors about this mission. It’s how she gained reputation as the second best only to him. He nods, and Angie continues. “It was supposed to be a suicuide mission. Everyone said I was a waste of time because of how long it took for me to forget everything. So they gave me a mission. They wanted me to kill some rich guy in Siberia. They gave me enough explosives to blow the whole building.”  
“Directive?” Bucky asks, not wanting to know the answer.  
“Set the explosives, set them off. Don’t even bother getting out.” Angie stares ahead for a bit.  
“You obviously didn’t.” Bucky says.  
“I didn’t set them up right. I forgot everything. I got stuck in a half collapsed building,” She wants to say “again”, but she refrains. “Security found me.” Bucky knows the long pause is bad. “I didn’t even know what I was doing there. I just knew that they were trying to hurt me. I killed so many of them,” She says, her voice cracking. “I lost count,” She pauses, wiping at her eyes. “I hid out in an alleyway. I didn’t even know my own name. I had no clue who I was, no clue what I was doing, and I definitely didn’t know how to speak Russian.” She smiles sadly at the last part. “I got hypothermia and I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t feel anything. Whatever they did to me, I can’t feel anything anymore.” She says, looking Bucky in the eyes. Bucky nods, already knowing this fact and allowing her to go on with the story. Without HYDRA continually wiping her memories, her past missions and small snippets of her life before had been slowly returning to her, or at least that’s what Sam guessed was happening. “HYDRA eventually figured out I was still alive.” She sighs. “I still see their faces. Shit, I didn’t even have a weapon. I used my shoelaces,” She chokes out, looking up in an attempt to blink away tears. Even after years of hiding any emotion from her handlers, she still snaps sometimes. Besides, Bucky never got angry with her because sometimes he would remember random things too. That’s why they fought so well together. They had a relationship similar to that of a brother and sister which allowed them to work better than any other team HYDRA ever trained.  
Bucky sits shocked for a minute. He heard the rumors but he had never heard the true story. He snaps back out of it when Angie speaks again.  
“Everything they did to me after that, I could care less. That first mission,” She sighs. “Taking away another person’s life put HYDRA’s purposes for keeping me into clear perspective.” She said, her tone bitter.  
“Yeah, it’s a kill-to-live environment over there.” Bucky says dejectedly. “That’s why we’re taking them down,” Bucky says, and they knock fists. She nods slowly.  
“I can still see their faces though.” She whispers after a moment. Bucky nods, sighing. He should’ve known this wasn’t going to be easy.

Angie snuck out of the floor that night out of pure necessity. She needed to get away from HYDRA’s lingering thoughts, and she was always able to clear her mind when she was moving. She headed up to the gym, a place she had wandered by and knew immediately that Bucky would not let her in there for a long time. But now, in the middle of the night, it should be uninhabited, right? Wrong. Angie waltzed in a second too late to realize that someone was already moving through a whole routine, both figures realizing the other’s presence at the same time. Angie is unsure whether the knife hurled in her direction is an invitation or a threat, but she decides to take a risk, catching it and facing another famous assassin, readying for battle with nothing but a knife and her sweats. Natasha’s eyebrows lift the tiniest bit and she prepares to fight. Angie slips a second knife out of her sleeve as Natasha closes the gap between them. The fight has begun, no stopping two of the world’s deadliest killers, two of the world’s most ruined mindsets.

Bucky woke up in a cold sweat. Something was wrong; he could feel it in his bones. He looked into Angie’s room, and finding her gone, he went to Steve.  
“I need your help finding Angie.” He says, and Steve is alert in a minute. Anything could have happened to her. Bucky led the way to the common floor. “I know she’s been sneaking out, but something seems off.” Bucky says as they get in the elevator. Steve knows it has something to do with the things she told him today and hopes that nothing has happened to her.  
“Friday, do you know where Angie is?” Steve asks helpfully.  
“She remains in the Tower, but I am unable to disclose her location.”  
“Why?” Bucky asks, exasperated.  
“Patient confidentiality.” Friday says. “I entered into a contract with Miss Angie.” Bucky sighs, thankful she is still in the building. He and Steve begin a sweep of the common floor, methodically and meticulously. Bucky sighs again at the sound of knife meeting knife, knowing Angie’s favorite weapon. He and Steve make it to the gym just in time to see Angie about to be stabbed by Natasha. Steve shouts in surprise, causing Agnie’s smooth roll to the left to be more of a tumble. Bucky is about to break up the fight when both of the girls give him warning looks.  
“Well, at least we found her,” Steve points out, and they both take seats.  
The fight is tight. Angie’s methods are powerful, but she’s fast on her feet. Natasha dodges most attacks because of her nimbleness and agility, but she appears to be putting more force into her deflects. Angie gets a knife in Natasha’s sleeve, pinning her against the wall, but Nat simply ducks to avoid the next knife, which is now efficiently lodged in the wall. Angie, finding herself without a knife (especially since Bucky still has her extras) resorts to a roundhouse kick before Natasha can get off of the wall. Nat doesn’t duck in time and takes the kick to the face. She finally gets unstuck, but now Angie is using the power of her half-cyborg arm to her advantage. Nat gets her in a chokehold, and Bucky almost laughs. Natasha is on the ground before she can blink. Natasha quickly flips around, pinning Angie to the ground, but Angie kicks her way out and both jump into the fluid motions of hand to hand combat. Tony enters the room with Clint, Bruce, and Sam behind him. They heard the commotion somehow and Steve suspects Tony didn’t want to be left out.  
“Now this is a girl fight!” He exclaims, and this is enough of a distraction for Nat to forget where she aimed the last quick, hitting Angie hard in the chin and sending her backwards. Bucky wants to check on her, but knows better than to disturb her in a fight. She rolls, ending up back on her feet. Natasha hits her again before she can fight back. Both of the girls had slipped back into their pasts without the small crowd’s realization. They both fight harder than ever. They made it back to the wall with the knives in it, and Natasha pulled one out, only using it for a minute before Angie steals it back. Nat grabs the other one from the wall. The knife fight is over in a matter of minutes, when Angie strikes Natasha’s knife out of the air and both knives fly through the air, landing a considerable distance away. Angie scowls at the loss of her knife but falls back into the fight. The sparring had gone from intense to vicious as they both return to reality.  
“I’m not quitting first,” Angie growls in between hits. Natasha gets her good in the face and Angie frowns.  
“Well, neither am I.” Natasha retorts, ducking quickly to avoid Angie’s metal arm. Nat grins as the fight intensifies in speed. “I haven’t fought like this since the Chitauri invasion.” Nat doesn’t notice Angie’s full-body flinch and sends the next kick without realizing the pure look of fear and terror.  
With seeing Angie’s tough demeanor when in danger, one might forget how small and light the slightly emaciated 16 year old girl is. And how far she might fly when she doesn’ t block Natasha’s kick. Nobody in the room moved for a moment. Bucky was the first to snap out of it. Missing a hit was so uncharacteristic for Angie. He and Natasha made it to Angie at the same time. Bucky crouches down to check on Angie, noting that she is just merely knocked out.  
“What happened?” Bucky asks, not unkindly as the other Avengers swarm around the small group.  
“I said I hadn’t fought like this since the Chitauri invasion, and then I kicked. I thought she would block.” Natasha explains. Bucky immediately knows what went wrong.  
“So what happened?” Tony asks, but Steve gives him a look, and Natasha suddenly remembers from when she, Steve, and Bucky extracted Angie in the first place. Her eyes widen just a bit and Bucky knows she didn’t mean to accidentally mention the first word of Angie’s activation code.

When Angie wakes up, she’s downright scared. And barely anything can scare her. She doesn’t understand how one of the Avengers can be HYDRA. She doesn’t want to go back. She doesn’t want to be a liability to Bucky. She doesn't want to ruin everything. Angie, without moving, slits open her eyes to look around. She recognizes the location as a hospital of sorts. No restraints. She opens her eyes fully, hopping out of the bed when she feels eyes on her back. She turns around slowly, seeing Natasha.  
“Traitor,” Angie hisses quietly. Natasha's eyes look like they are laughing.  
“I’m not, I swear.” Natasha says, trying to convey her point to the untrusting teen. She holds out a scrap of yellow fabric and Angie takes it quickly. “Bucky said to give this to you.”  
“Where is he?” Angie asks, not looking up from the fabric.  
“He’s helping Bruce with something.” Natasha says offhandedly.  
“Wrong answer. He hates doctors and scientists. Why would he be with Bruce? And stop lying to me,” Angie says, taking a step back while brandishing yet another knife.  
“He’s on his way up right now,” Natasha says, tensing the slightest bit. She could tell what Angie had been through to react like this. She hadn’t expected her to lash out like a wild animal.  
Just as she says this, Bucky walks through the door.  
“Angie,” He says, and she puts away the knife, still not taking her eyes off of Natasha. “I’m fine. You’re fine.” He says. Angie wants to retort back that she is not fine in the slightest bit right now, but she holds her tongue. “She gave you the fabric, right?” Bucky says.  
“She could’ve stolen it from you,” Angie points out, and Natasha almost laughs at that.  
“I wanted to apologize. For during the fight. I should’ve watched my mouth more closely.” Natasha says, leaving after Angie nods.  
“She doesn’t know your code.” Bucky says, trying to reassure her. “I’m the only one here who knows.”  
“She heard it once though. She could remember it if she tried.” Angie says, handing the yellow fabric back to Bucky, who pockets it.  
“She won’t try to remember. Trust me if you can’t trust her yet, I can understand that.” Bucky says, and Angie nods.  
“I’m working on it, Buck,” She says, and he smiles a small grin.


	4. Who, me?

I don't own.   
Chapter 4  
Warning: dissociation and minor panic attack

Bucky kept asking if she was ok. She just assumed he had a harder transition because he spent a longer time in HYDRA’s cruel grasp. When the shock of not being with HYDRA anymore finally wore off, transitioning hit her hard.  
She woke up differently this morning. The sheets were too soft, the bed too warm. This is not protocol for sleeping arrangements. She got out of the bed robotically. After she brushed her teeth, wondering why they suddenly took an interest in her dental hygiene, she entered the kitchen. Something was off. Her handler sat in a chair, talking to a strange man she felt she knew for some reason. She had no recollection of how she got here. Thinking back, she had met a few assists to the mission, and had trained with a new handler, but that was all the Assist could remember. She stayed quiet, choosing not to relay this information to her handler, but taking the food her offers her with a small grin, per usual. She knew her handler was less severe than the others and wouldn’t take offense at the small smile. He smiled back and the Assist blinked hard. That’s never happened before.  
Bucky just blamed Angie’s strange behavior on a lack of sleep. He knows that she has recurring nightmares, and she’s had them ever since she knew him. She never opened up to him about them, but he helped in the small ways he could. Like a small smile, a grimace, really, when he gave her some breakfast.  
The Assist finishes her breakfast.  
What to do next. Her handler has made no motion that he wants the plate back. Perhaps it is a new multipurpose weapon. She sits with the empty plate/weapon for 38 minutes until her handler notices.  
“You done trying to learn all that plate’s secrets yet, Ange?” He asks. She looks up, noting the use of her name. In front of the other guy. Is he a handler, and can he be trusted with her name.  
She deposits the plate in the sink where she previously noted other dirty plate/weapons. She sits down at the table. Apparently there is no mission today. So why are they not training yet.  
“What do you want to do today?” Bucky asks, giving her a choice. The Assist is not used to having to make choices. She internally panics until she just decides to stick to the usual.  
“Train.” She says, and Steve laughs.  
“That brawl with Nat wasn’t plenty?” Why is the new guy laughing at her. She sends a tiny glare in his direction.  
“I want to be ready,” She explains a rather simple concept that dominates most of her world-view. Her handler gives her a look.  
“If you really want to,” He says. “But you have to stop as soon as it gets hard for you to breathe.” The Assist nods at the strange request. Breathing levels are functioning fine at the moment. “Also, we’re gonna see Bruce this afternoon for something,” Bucky adds.  
The Assist has no clue who Bruce is but she nods and goes with it.

Training is too easy. Her handler is doing it on purpose. Even with the advantage, the Assist finds herself breathing too hard only after a half hour. She feels disappointment in not being able to fight for hours on end. Her handler stops, and she does too, following his example.  
“Let’s get some lunch,” The new handler suggests, and the Assist’s handler agrees. They eat sandwiches, and something moves in the Assist’s dusty mind, but she pushes it back.  
After they finish, she once again stares at the plate until her handler points it out. It really would make a great weapon. The three of them head down to a lab, and the Assist quakes internally, yet not letting her fear show. She soon learns that Bruce is a doctor. Her handler sits her down in a chair and talks to the other handler and Bruce the doctor for awhile. She tunes them out, not wanting punitive measures taken for suspected eavesdropping.  
Her handler approaches her, looking far more serious than the Assist had ever seen him. He bends a bit to look her straight in the eyes. She wants to move, the intense look in his eyes unnerving her. She never liked to get serious about anything. Even during a mission she preferred to crack jokes than talk about what they were doing.  
“Angie,” He says, once again using her name. “Bruce has an antidote for what HYDRA used to make you forget everything.” The Assist sighed confusedly, wondering why they wanted to fix what they did. Maybe it was because she occasionally forgot that she was supposed to kill when she preferred to merely injure suspects and targets. “It’s your choice whether or not to use it.” He finishes, and the Assist once again panicked at the thought of decision making.  
“Would you want to remember, if you could?” She asks him quietly. He sighs, nodding slowly. The other handler comes to sit behind him.  
“I’ll do it,” She says, making a choice before it gives her any more anxiety. “How bad can it be?” She says quietly, more trying to reassure herself than the handlers.  
They both nod, and she is set up with an IV in her arm. The Assist wants to panic, wants to run from the sight of needles and medical tools and anything that resembles a doctor, but she rolls with it, curiosity spiking at remembering things she forgot. Maybe she would learn what those names that often danced around her empty mind finally meant. She watched as the doctor injected the crystal blue mixture into the IV line.  
“The effects should be almost immediate,” He says, and her handler seems to be tense.  
“I’m right here,” He whispers, her finely-tuned hearing barely picking it up. She nods, and everything starts to come back. Slowly at first, before speeding up so much her mind flips and flops this way and that. Through all the confusion, a string of words make themselves present.  
“Chitauri.” The invasion that killed her family.  
“Forgotten.” No one was alive to remember her.  
“Debt.” People saved her. She owed them her life.  
“Twist.” Her mind flashes to how they got her unstuck from under the building.  
“35.” They got that wrong.  
“Docile.” They made her forget everything so she would question nothing.  
“9.” She didn’t even know what to think.  
“Rescued.” That’s what she thought was happening.  
“4.” The day.  
“Lost.” What HYDRA thought she would be without them.  
Angie settled violently back into the present, ripping out the IV before she could remember anything else that she did. Bucky and Steve startled, and she ran. She ran faster than she ever had before. She tried to run from her memories: her family dying before her eyes, thousands of people dying at the work of her hands, and countless others that spun in her head.

She didn’t even realize she had stopped running until she looked at the collapsed rubble in front of her. She had lost Bucky and Steve in the crowds swarming the streets. Everything flooded back to her in full now. This is where it started. When her family was killed, did she think she would ever become the killer? She could see every single face she had ever taken life from. She couldn’t process. Angie wandered in the rubble, her mind lost. She remembered her family. How they cared for her. Would they still love her if they knew what she had done? She sat down in the rubble. This is where it happened. She could still smell the dust, hear the building collapsing. She could still feel the ground shaking, she could still see the terrified faces of her family. Her face was blank, her breaths too rapid to be normal. She focused on a jagged piece of steel to try to stave off the panic attack. It didn’t work. She trembled, wanting to forget it all again. She didn’t want these memories, she didn’t want to do what she did. She hyperventilated, trying to stop but she couldn’t. She rocked back and forth, curled up, trying not to cry while also trying to breathe. She could see the faces of her family, disapproving and cold. Angie never meant to make them this way. She only wanted to make them proud.  
“Angie,” Bucky said quietly, calling her back to the present. He knelt next to her. Angie looked at him, and he could see the hopelessness in her eyes. “What’s wrong?” He asks cautiously.  
“I don’t want to remember,” Angie says, her voice void of any emotion. Bucky dismisses this, pulling her into a hug.  
“I’m sorry,” He says.  
“It’s not your fault,” Angie says quietly, slowing her breathing. As she calmed, she realized that she was hugging the man that taught her to kill. The man that could be at fault for killing her family. But then Angie remembered that he was the one to tell her what her name is. He was the one who protected her in HYDRA’s malevolent ranks. He was the one who made sure she was out before taking them down. And Angie knew that Bucky was the closest thing she had to a family now, and she hugged him a little longer. He would never replace her own family, but she was thankful for a friend.

It only seemed to get worse from there. Angie woke herself up to the sounds of her own screams. Now that she remembered everything that happened, she just wanted to forget it all again. She heard the door creak, and she stilled completely. It was Steve.  
“Are you ok?” Steve asks, knowing well she isn’t. This is the third time she woke up from a nightmare this night. Bucky had heard her the first two times, but he had finally fallen asleep and Steve had no intentions of waking him. Agnie knew Steve better than any of the other Avengers, but he was still a stranger to her. And when Angie remembered everything, it included her crippling social anxiety.  
“Yeah,” She said after a minute. “Sorry for waking you up,” She added.  
“I was already awake.” Steve says, not unkindly, hovering awkwardly in the doorway. “Make sure you get some sleep,” He says, leaving. Angie sighs. She wants to get back to sleep but knows she won’t. The horrific images flash before her eyes once again. She fiddles with a thread on her fraying shirt. Suddenly, she thinks of her family. A tear rolls down her face as she wonders what they would be doing now, if they hadn’t died. She sobs into her pillow, unable to hold it back any longer. She didn’t know how long she went on like this, when Friday interrupted her thoughts.  
“I can’t help but notice your distress,” She says, and Angie glances at the ceiling. “Am I right in assuming it is related to your family?” She asks softly. Angie nods, wondering if she can see her or not.  
“Yeah,” She says quietly, still unsure whether or not Friday saw her nod her head. “I wonder what they would be doing with their lives right now. What they would be like.” Angie says, the thinking out loud suddenly helping her process. “Andrew would be almost 21. He was only 12 when it happened. He wanted to be in the military,” Angie says sadly. “I always wanted to do what he did. He was my role model.” She says quietly.  
“And your other siblings?” Friday prompts after Angie sat quietly for a moment.  
“Kiara was the next oldest.” Angie says. “She was my best friend.” A long sigh follows the statement. “Then Dilan. He was 6. He was loud and funny,” Angie says fondly. “And Miles. He wasn’t even 2 years old,” Angie says, her voice cracking.  
“I have taken the liberty of finding this photo for you,” Friday says somberly after a minute. A panel in the wall slid back and a picture popped out. Angie took it gingerly. She saw the faces of her family, herself included. Smiling and carefree. Tears streamed down her face, but Angie managed a small smile.  
“Thank you,” She says, setting the picture on the nightstand, finally able to fall asleep.  
If Friday could smile, she would.

Angie woke peacefully, a strange contrast to her rough night. Looking out the window, Angie suspected it was still early in the morning. Her guess was correct as she wandered into the kitchen to find it was only 6:15. Strange that neither Bucky or Steve were up this early. Angie, holding the photo from last night, sat on the couch and looked at it as the sun slowly began to rise above the skyline.  
Bucky entered the kitchen and Angie pocketed the picture out of pure habit. Bucky saw her sitting on the couch and joined her.  
“Are you ok?” He asks. Angie can hear the worry in his voice.  
“Yeah,” She says. “It’s better to remember. You were right.” She adds after a minute.  
“Angie, waking up at 3am screaming is not ‘better’.” Bucky says, looking at her.  
“I know,” She admits. She pulls out the picture and hands it to him. “It hurts, but it’s better than not remembering them at all.” Bucky nods. This he might be able to understand.

review??


	5. Things Forgotten

I don't own.

Chapter 5  
Several months had passed and Angie slowly assimilated herself with the Avengers. They accepted her for who she was and gave her a home, and she was forever grateful. She, Bucky, and Steve lived together, and Angie was happy to find herself able to relax around them. She let her guard down, a guard that HYDRA forced her to put up, and she felt more like her own person than she ever had before. She owned herself, and that was the only thing she could ever need.  
Natasha was one of her closest friends in the tower besides Bucky. Even after what happened when they sparred, Angie and Nat both considered each other a confidant and friend.  
Sam was another of her favorites, mostly because he talked real with her and didn’t gloss over things that the others had.  
Steve and her were also close. He and Bucky cared for her even though she struggled to get over her past. Steve always made sure that she was ok, even on a good day.  
Clint was one of her favorites. He was like a crazy older brother that everyone needed in their life. The two of them managed to pull off a handful of pranks around the tower, and Angie also liked to spar with Clint. He kept her on her toes.  
Bruce was another person she had come to like. Even though she feared doctors a bit, he was kind and easy for her to talk to .  
Tony and Pepper were also good friends of Angie. They always made sure that she was ok with anything they wanted her to do, and that’s how one thing led to another, and suddenly she was talking about school.  
“Hey Angie,” Pepper said enthusiastically. Angie sparred with Nat that morning, and after lunch, she decided to visit Pepper, who had mentioned she should stop by soon. Bucky, Steve, and Clint were trying to smooth out bumps in the plan to take down HYDRA and Angie didn’t want to think about that right now, so she opted out.  
“Hi Pepper,” Angie returned the same authenticity.  
“Thanks for coming by. I really wanted to talk to you about something that Tony brought up.” Pepper would never tell Angie to her face, but everyone of the Avengers who lived in the tower cared a lot about the young girl who had walked into their life about three or four months ago because she reminded them again and again that people have to be genuine to themselves. She did it in a subtle way, and to be honest, Pepper thought she was helping everyone she met to be a better person.  
“Yeah?” Angie says, her eyes studying the abstract art on the walls before looking back at Pepper.  
“Yes. He reminded me that school is starting in a few weeks, and he wanted to know if you were interested.” Pepper said, unsure of what Angie’s reaction would be. She seemed to think about it for a minute, and she could almost feel the gears turning in Angie’s mind.  
“I haven’t been to school since I was eight,” She says after a minute. “I’m probably behind everyone else.”  
“You’re smart,” Pepper says. “And the people in this tower could teach you all of high school in a day if you wanted them to. They could catch you up easily.” Angie considers this.  
“I’d like to go to school,” She says. “Just-” She catches herself. “There’s so many things that could happen.” She says, and Pepper seems to understand.  
“I don’t need an answer until late next week. Think about it, and there’s definitely no pressure.” Pepper says, smiling that smile that always made you feel better when you were sad.  
“Thank you,” Angie says genuinely, leaving with a smile.

\---

That night, she lay awake for a long time. School sounded so fun. She could learn things that HYDRA didn’t teach her, get out of the tower a little bit, and possibly even make a friend or two. She only had a long list of worries that came along with it. Pepper said she would be a sophomore. That means that she would be new when everyone else had spent freshman year together. Several other concerning thoughts arose. Angie glanced down at her arm; half-metal, half-flesh. The metal starts just above her elbow and continues down from there. What would other kids think of her arm? Also, what if something made her have a flashback? What if HYDRA attacked and Angie couldn’t go to school anymore? Personal questions rose along with general. What if she had no clue what was going on? Would they make her go back to 4th grade? Would she even make a single friend? Angie turned, looking at the picture of her family to quell her turbulent thoughts. They loved her. But would they now? The thought lingered as she eventually fell captive to sleep.

\---

Angie had already made up her mind by the time she woke up. She made a feeble excuse to go talk to Pepper after breakfast, and Bucky and Steve didn’t think about it. They had heavier matters on their minds.  
“Hey,” Angie says, knocking lightly on the doorframe to Pepper’s office.  
“Hey!” Pepper says, looking up as her face brightens. “So, did you think about it a bit?” She asks, sensing Angie’s uneasiness.  
“Yeah,” Angie says hesitantly. “Thank you for offering, but there’s too many risks.” She says slowly. “I’d love to go, but…” She trails off, hoping Pepper will understand, and as always, Pepper does.  
“I’m not going to make you go, but I want to help you. What are the risks?” Pepper asks, not unkindly. Angie holds up her arm. Pepper nods. “I can work with that.” Pepper says, prompting Ange to go on.  
“I don’t want to put people at risk.” She says. Pepper thinks for a minute.  
“What makes you think you’ll put people at risk?” Pepper asks, her tone softer than before. Angie tries to start her sentence multiple times, but she just doesn’t know how. “HYDRA.” She says after a minute. “They always find me.”  
“I can work with that too.” Pepper says. “Remember, you’re literally in a tower filled with superheroes. We can work around just about anything,” Pepper says, and Angie thanks her profusely before leaving with more hope than she had when she entered.

\---

Angie did a bit of research. She wanted to find her family. She wanted to at least feel whole again before she attempted to tackle school and all of its worries. She asked Friday for help, and Friday, as usual, was able to provide Angie with the sources she needed. And then Angie had to ask Bucky if she could go. He agreed, but he and Steve would be coming along. Angie nodded, going to get ready. She dressed nicely, but she didn’t know what good it would do. The car ride was a blur, her head spinning.  
As she stood before the gates of the cemetery, Angie questions her decision to come here. Bucky and Steve are behind her, silent. This is her family, her decision. Neither will protest if she wants to leave now. She enters slowly, already knowing where to find it. She trembles as she approaches the large tombstone. She finds seven names engraved there, hers among them.  
“Angie Carter Fried,” She read slowly. She now had more than just a single name. She read the names of her siblings and parents, the names engraved alongside hers. She was dead to this world. Nobody knew she was still living. Except HYDRA of course. She sat down on the green grass that covered the ground around the tombs. Bright yellow dandelions sprung up at the base of the head stone, and she picked one and fiddled with it absentmindedly. Bucky and Steve moved to sit on a bench a little further away, giving her privacy with her family. When she heard them move far enough away, she began to talk.  
“Hey, guys,” She says, surprisingly feeling at ease. “It’s good to remember you again. I miss you guys. I wish I could’ve gone with you. None of you would be proud of what I’ve done but I’m proud for you all to have known the best of me.” She poured out, continuing on for another 20 minutes or so. When she finished, she stood slowly, feeling more whole, and turned to find Steve and Bucky. They stood, and Bucky takes note of the hastily-wiped away tear tracks, but he also sees the unwavering smile on Angie’s face, and he decides that things might turn out ok for once.

\---

Of course he was wrong. Anytime anything went well in life for Bucky or Angie, HYDRA had to go and fuck it all up again. Angie was feeling better about herself everyday, and she had begun to study so she was prepared for school. She never wanted to be behind in anything, and she tore diligently into understanding more complex concepts. It was simple for her, but, as always, Angie wanted to be prepared. And then something happened she could have never been prepared for.  
Angie sat at the table on the common floor. Steve, Bucky, and the other Avengers were trying to finalize the legality around their plans, and Angie was flipping absentmindedly through a dusty geometry textbook she found in Tony’s lab. Just then, Pepper strode out of the elevator, smiling when she saw Angie.  
“Hi,” Angie says, giving a small smile.  
“Hey, Angie,” Pepper says. “Are they still at it?” Pepper asks, gesturing to the board room. Angie nods. Pepper sat down on a couch to wait, picking up a magazine. Angie shut the geometry textbook. She went into a separate board room and placed it next to the others. The Avengers had slowly come to dub this room as Angie’s study room, and she had begun to compile her resources in here. She set the geometry book on a stack of other textbooks and looked again at the knowledge requirements for precalc. She didn’t just want to be prepared for high school, she wanted to be slightly ahead of the game.  
Suddenly, she felt the floor shake. She dropped the book, hearing gunshots. She ran out of the room, seeing the HYDRA agents. This couldn’t be happening. All of the Avengers were engaged in combat, and Angie shook. She didn’t want to fight anymore. This new life was such a welcome change from her past self. She didn’t want to hurt anyone- Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Pepper trying to convince a HYDRA agent to stay back with a rolled-up magazine. Angie saw the agent move to pull the trigger. Tony saw it too. He froze, but Angie reacted. She was already over there, knocking Pepper out of the way as she heard the gunshot. She felt an immense pressure in her shoulder, but she ignored it, pulling Pepper up and slinging a knife at the agent that got in the way. She got Pepper to the elevator, but didn’t step in it herself. Pepper looks at her, shocked.  
“Angie-” She starts worriedly.  
“I need to help,” Angie explains.  
“But Angie-!” Angie avoids a taser by a few inches, and she jumps into the fight, leaving Friday with no choice but to shut the elevator doors. Angie takes down two of the closest agents, falling back into combat easily. It’s strange to be fighting alongside the Avengers, but they are sure not to infringe on her space. Smart choice. Bucky watches Angie out of the corner of his eye, and she looks like a whirlwind of terror. Her fists move faster than the average eye can track, and she periodically launches a knife into the fray. He does notice, however, that none of the people she encounters are dead, but only injured. He shoves the next guy into the wall, and that’s when he sees it. He spots blood, specifically from a gunshot wound, on Angie’s right shoulder. And he can tell that she can’t feel it and doesn’t notice it. Bucky picks up the pace, wanting this fight to be over sooner rather than later.  
Suddenly, over the sounds of the raging battle, Bucky hears something he never wants to hear again. An agent begins reading in Russian, and Bucky slams his hands over his ears, not wanting to listen.  
“Longing.” He begins. “Rusted. Furnace. Daybreak.”  
Bucky can vaguely hear the others calling his name through the fog in his brain. He feels someone behind him, protecting him from the other agents. The man continues, uninterrupted.  
“Seventeen. Benign. Nine. Homecoming. One. Freight-” The man is abruptly cut off, Angie pulling her knife back out of the weak spot in his kevlar. The fight ends quickly, but neither Bucky nor Angie move a muscle. Bucky is trying to shake the programming out of his head, and Angie, Angie is staring silently at her bloody knife and the motionless figure on the ground below her. Pepper is eventually let out of the elevator, and Tony runs to check on her. Out of the corner of her eye, Angie can see Steve helping Bucky, and knowing that he is ok, she disappears to an empty guest bathroom.

\---

“Bucky, talk to me. You’re scaring me.” Bucky looks up at Steve in shock. The other Avengers are scattered around, but Steve is looking intently at him.  
“I’m fine,” Bucky says, pulling himself off of the floor.  
“You’re not back there?” Steve insists.  
“I’m fine,” Bucky repeats, scanning the carnage. Clint kicks a guy who begins to stir. “Where’s Angie?” Bucky asks, alarmed. Steve looks around, also noticing her absence. “Where is she? She was shot in the shoulder,” Bucky remembers. Friday chooses this moment to speak up.  
“Sirs, Angie is currently in the guest bathroom with Ms. Romanov.”

\---

Natasha had seen Angie run off. Barely anything escapes her eye. She knew what the kid was probably going through, and she followed her, but Angie didn’t recognize her presence. After she had been alone in the bathroom for five minutes, Nat knocks on the door. Angie lets out a small grunt, and Nat enters. Angie is at the massive sink, washing her hands. When she finishes, she puts more soap on, and washes them again. Natasha watches silently. After Angie goes to wash her hands a fifth time, Nat stops her.  
“Angie,” She says, and when Angie looks at her she can see the pain in the young girl’s eyes. A pain Nat used to carry, before she stopped feeling bad for those who happened to meet their ends at her hands. Nat isn’t big on feelings and the like, but she pulls Angie in for a hug, knowing it will benefit the young fighter. “It wasn’t your fault.” Nat says as Angie pulls away. Angie doesn’t seem to register the words, but she suddenly answers.  
“I’ve never killed as Angie before.” Natasha understands.  
“Ange, you were protecting your friend. There’s no telling what would’ve happened if they turned Bucky back.”  
“But you don’t understand!” Angie says, quavering. “If Bucky turned I would have used his override code. I didn’t need to kill that guy,” She says, sitting down on the edge of the tub, all energy gone. That’s when Nat notices the gunshot wound.  
“You got shot?” She asks, gesturing to Angie’s shoulder. Angie shrugs, unfazed.  
“That’s probably why my arm feels weird.” She answers, nonchalant. Nat pulls out the first aid kit, turning to Angie with curiosity.  
“You really don’t feel pain, do you?” She asks, pulling out the necessary supplies.  
“I don’t feel pain, hunger, or temperature. I remember what they feel like now, but I can’t feel them anymore.” Angie says. “I only feel pressure.”  
“Good. Then this won’t hurt at all.” Nat says, and she begins to remove the bullet from Angie’s arm. Angie doesn’t move, simply just nodding her thanks when Nat finishes wrapping her arm. Natasha can understand. She opens the door to leave, finding a very concerned Bucky and Steve.  
“She’s alright.” She says, leaving the two super soldiers to deal with the tiny one. They rush into the bathroom, alarmed, but Angie barely acknowledges them, just nodding at their questions. Bucky seems to understand, and they don’t push her.

\---

The next day, Friday asks Angie to go down to Tony’s workshop. Angie shrugs, getting up to go to the elevator, but she looks back, surprised, when Bucky doesn’t come with her.  
“You coming?” She asks simply.  
“Better not,” Bucky says, and Angie can almost smell his fear. She shrugs again, and heads down. She always knew Bucky doesn’t like workshops or doctors or things like that, but as she headed down, she couldn’t help the feeling that his fear of the workshop was something bigger. Maybe even related to Tony, who spends most of his time down there. She shrugged it out of her mind as she got off the elevator and began to search for Tony. She finds him at a long table, looking at schematics of what seems to be different colored metal arms. He closes it when he hears her approach.  
“Hey,” She says, sitting down at the workbench across from him.  
“Hey,” He mirrors. “I just wanted to apologize for letting those guys get in yesterday. The gap in the security was fixed this morning.” He didn’t seem to be able to meet her eyes.  
“S’okay. You didn’t know. You didn’t purposely let them in or anything,” Angie says, and then he meets her gaze.  
“I also wanted to say thank you.” He pauses. “If you hadn’t been there, you know, with Pepper…” He falters, not wanting to entertain the thought of a different outcome. Angie stays silent for a moment, not knowing how to respond.  
“I’ve lost a lot of people for not moving fast enough.” She admits. “‘I’d do it for anyone in this tower.” Tony nods, and the two are at peace.  
“I was designing something, something for school.” He says, pulling up the arm schematics again. Angie perks up at the mention of school.  
“Yeah?” She asks.  
“Well, I was thinking about your arm, and how it might freak people out, no offense,” He adds. Angie grimaces.  
“I was wondering what I would do about it.” She grumbles, not unkindly.  
“I designed a cover. It would be thin, lightweight, and it would match your skin tone so it would be disguised.”  
“It wouldn’t slip off by accident?” Angie inquires.  
“No, I designed it specifically so that wouldn’t happen.” Tony says, proud of his inventions. “Any other questions?”  
“Not really,” Angie says, admiring the design once again. “Would I be able to stash a knife inside it?” She adds afterwards. Tony laughs and she joins him. “I’m kidding. I’m not bringing knives to school. Maybe just one, for protection?” Tony laughs again, and Angie is glad for the unlikely friend.  
“Ok, any serious questions?” Tony asks, and Angie shakes her head. But Tony sees a curious glint in her eye, one that reminds him of himself. “You have a question about something,” He says, and Angie’s smile fades just a bit.  
“It’s about Bucky,” She says, and Tony's smile also fades. She notices. “Why doesn’t he want to come down here?” She says quietly, as if not wanting to ruin a good moment.  
“It’s probably the machinery,” Tony says, trying to brush the question away. Once again, she notices.  
“But it’s not. I’ve seen him afraid of machines before. This is different. His fear is almost personal.” Tony is starting to want his workshop back to himself. She’s too intuitive. But he can’t deny her the truth.  
“Me and Bucky, we kinda have a complicated past.” Tony starts. “Back when he was, you know,” She nods. “Well, he kinda sorta shot my parents.” Angie winces sympathetically. “And they were my only family, even if they weren’t the best family, he killed my family.” Angie is silent, and Tony doesn’t dare look up.  
“Same.” She says after a minute, and Tony looks up, confused. He’d noticed a tension between her and Bucky since she got her memory back, but he assumed it was because of HYDRA, not Bucky.  
“What?” Tony asks, as if he didn’t hear her right.  
“I think my parents were important or something. Enemies of HYDRA. I was eight. I don’t really know. But during the Chitauri invasion, HYDRA targeted my family. He took the shot. My apartment building collapsed, and it was blamed on the invasion. And, I know that he’s technically responsible, but he’s still my friend.”  
“How.” Tony asks, voice darkened by the grief.  
“HYDRA was…” She trails off, looking for the right word. “Unforgiving.” Tony nods. “It was straight up hell. I wish I could forget it all again.” She doesn’t look him in the eyes. “But through it all, he was the only one who actually looked out for my well being. I would’ve died over 100 times if it wasn’t for him.” She looks him in the eyes, seeing his disbelief. “I know it wasn’t him and I know that deep down you know that too.” She looks away again. “But HYDRA is terrible. I’ve killed thousands of people for them.” She chokes on the last part of the sentence.  
“But you’re just a kid! You aren’t responsible-” Angie looks up.  
“Then Bucky isn’t responsible either.” Tony felt numb, but the way she said it showed that she wasn’t siding with Bucky simply because she’d known him longer, she was siding with him because she’d done the same thing. And if she could forgive Bucky for killing her family, maybe Tony could too.  
When he looked up again, she was gone.

Review?


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